Rafael Nadal Is Lionel Messi

Spanish star Rafael Nadal isn't ranked No. 1 anymore, but he is a two-time Wimbledon champion and he did defeat Novak Djokovic in the French Open final this year.

Alas, we didn't see much of Nadal this summer at Wimbledon. He lost his second-round match to the Czech Republic's Lukas Rosol.

Much like Messi, then, Nadal's talents didn't play out on the grandest stage this summer. It's an imperfect comparison, however, because Messi had no chance to play at Euro 2012.

Having said that, there's more.

Like Nadal's Wimbledon loss, Messi and FC Barcelona suffered a disappointing exit from the Champions League semifinals this past spring, before losing the race for the Spanish league title to Real Madrid as well.

Maria Sharapova Is Wesley Sneijder

That is, except this summer. At Wimbledon, the Russian No. 1 seed lost in the fourth round of the women's draw.

That's kind of like Holland's Wesley Sneijder.

Sneijder is universally considered a great player. He showed it two years ago at the World Cup, when the Netherlands advanced all the way to the final. Having said that, at Euro 2012, Sneijder's Dutch team crashed and burned.

In an obvious corollary, Sabine Lisicki is thus the entire German national team, which advanced easily from Group B past Holland.

Andy Murray Is Steven Gerrard

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Scotsman Andy Murray has fought his way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where he's playing Spaniard David Ferrer as I'm writing this.

No British man has won Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and everybody knows all about it. Murray has never won a major, but as Britain's greatest hope, he has the weight of a nation upon his shoulders.

England soccer captain Steven Gerrard handled the burden well this summer, leading the Three Lions—who haven't won a major title since the 1966 World Cup—to the quarterfinals of Euro 2012.